Dividends, What is it?

A dividend (coupon) is a portion of a company's profit it decides to pay shareholders instead of retaining it all for growth. It can be cash (an amount per share) or bonus shares (increasing your share count). To qualify you must own the stock before the "record date." After payment, the share price drops by roughly the coupon value, because that value left the company, so a dividend is not literally "free money." Dividend yield = annual coupon ÷ share price, and matters to income-seeking investors. FoudaLens tracks dividends and their dates per stock in a dividends calendar.